News — The New England Revolution made two transactions on the eve of the Major League Soccer regular season restart by acquiring winger Kekuta Manneh and midfielder Tommy McNamara.
New England signed Manneh, 25, by trading an international roster spot to FC Cincinnati Monday morning. The slot will return to New England in January 2021.
In addition, the Revolution sent the Houston Dynamo midfielder Wilfried Zahibo and an international roster spot for McNamara. Houston also gave the Revolution $150,000 in allocation money as part of the deal.
Revolution add more wing depth with Manneh
New England add more speed and depth to their attack with Manneh, who is need of a career renaissance after a year-and-a-half stint with Cincinnati.
Revolution head coach/sporting director Bruce Arena said in a statement he monitored Manneh closely for years and wanted to add more depth to his team. Previous teams Arena has coached have relied heavily on speedy options along the flank.
Manneh recorded four goals in 29 appearances with Cincinnati from 2019-20 and has had additional stints in MLS with Columbus Crew SC and the Vancouver Whitecaps. He is from Gambia and his international club experience includes stops at St. Gallen in Switzerland and Pachua in Mexico.
McNamara adds dynamic midfielder to the mix
The Revolution’s midfield core has received quite the makeover in recent weeks.
Starters both Luis Caicedo and Carles Gil are out for the season. In addition, the club also added American midfielder Matt Polster from Rangers FC in July.
Now 2018 MLS All-Star Wilfried Zahibo, who served as a rotation started in central midfield along with Scott Caldwell, is on the outs to make room for McNamara.
McNamara, 29, made 37 appearances with Houston over two seasons. Prior to that, he represened New York City FC for four seasons. He will now be in the mix to start games with Caldwell, Polster, Diego Fagundez and Kelyn Rowe.
